Rental Scam?

[Lisa5728]

Hallo. Ich bin auf eine Miet-Wohnungsanzeige in München aufmerksam geworden.

Heute habe ich von einer Susanna M [...] aus Madrid eine Email erhalten.

Kann mir diesbezüglich jemand sagen ob es sich hierbei um Betrug handelt und wie ich weiterhin vorgehen soll bzw mich versichern kann dass es sich hierbei um ein richtiges Mietangebot handelt.

“Hello,

Thank you for your reply.

The apartment is available for a long-term rental and is exactly as you can see in the pictures, so you can rent as long as you want. There will be a regular contract between us. You will have a completed residence registration form, signed by me. The registration at the address is possible.

As I said in my previous email, I live in Madrid and will have to come and show you the apartment and sign the rental agreement.

After moving to Madrid, we started renting the apartment through Airbnb.com, but it has been quite a hard time for me to come often and check everything, so I decided to rent the apartment for long terms. Airbnb provides an online platform that connects hosts who have accommodations to rent with guests seeking to rent such accommodations. I am Airbnb member since 2015 with good reviews.

Like any other transactions on Airbnb, they will handle payment and it will be released to me only after you check in. By any chance the apartment would not suit you, you have the option to cancel the reservation and get full refund.  

After you confirm the booking and payment to Airbnb, I will come as soon as possible back to sort out the lease. I use Airbnb because the owner of the property is covered by Airbnb policies.

If everything sound good to you, I will enable the apartment on Airbnb so you can book it. I will need your full name, your actual address, phone number, the date you want to move in and the maximum estimated period of your staying.

Best regards,

Susanne“

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[Christa0]

@Lisa5728, Finger weg! Das ist mit Sicherkeit Fake. Wenn Du in der Suchmaske hier oben, Fake oder ähnliches eingibst, findest Du etliche Diskussionen zu diesem Thema.

[Stefanie315]

Ich habe dieselbe Email für eine Miet-Wohnung in Hamburg bekommen, die ich bei immonet gesehen hatte. Als ich sie nach der Email wieder bei immonet gesucht habe, war sie weg. Susanne hat mir die gleiche Nachricht geschrieben als zweite Email. Die erste Email war diese:

"

Hello,

I just read your e-mail regarding my apartment located in: Pestalozzistraße [...], 22305 Hamburg. It has 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1 kitchen (63 m2). The rent is 500 euro/month included additional cost (utility bills). The security deposit is 1400 euro, and you get it back when you decide to leave the apartment (you will have to give me at least 30 days notice).

A little bit about myself so we can get to know each other better.

So, I am Susanne Miszuda I am 51 Years old, I have 54 year old husband Felix and we work in the software industry in the quality management department of a company located Madrid, which specializes in government software.

As for me, you can rest assured that I will never ask you to leave the apartment. You will have access to a very large and well ventilated cellar, where you can store things if you need to.

I would like to know something about you, for example, your occupation, financial situation, monthly income for people who will live in the apartment, how many people will have to live at home and for how long do you plan to stay?

I hope you got a good first impression, and please if you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask.

Would love to hear back from you!

Kind regards from Spain,

Susanne [...]"

Und als ich danach fragte, ob man sich die Wohnung vorher ansehen kann bzw. ob wir mal telefonieren könnten, bekam ich nur diese Antwort zurück:

"

Hello,

Thank you for your reply.

You imagine that governing an apartment from abroad is really quite troublesome, especially with a high frequency of guests.

To make sure you understand my proposal correctly:

Step 1: I will provide you with a link to the apartment on Airbnb

Step 2: You will rent the apartment for 1 month via Airbnb.

Step 3: You will pay the Airbnb invoice. First month of rent and security deposit.

Step 4: During that month we can meet in the apartment to take a good look at it.

Step 5: In case you do not want to take it, you can cancel the booking and get the money refund it.

Step 6: In case you want to take it we will sign a standard rental contract. Long term rental.

My intention is to prevent travelling to Germany for a potential tenant who in fact is not interested and makes my come for nothing!

Warm regards,

Susanne"

Ich wunderte mich über die günstige Mietwohung. denn 500 €/mtl für 65qm mit Balkon und in einer guten Lage in HH sind - wie ihr sicher alle wisst - ein riesen Schnäppchen, das ist zu gut um wahr zu sein und viel zu günstig. Ich habe die ganze Zeit das Gefühl, dass es einen Haken gibt. 

Aber eigentlich glaube ich immer an das gute in den Menschen, daher wollte ich gerne darauf vertrauen.

Leider ist sie nicht auf mein Angebot eingegangen, dass wir einmal telefonieren könnten, Facetime, um sich kennen zu lernen. 

Was denkt ihr? Könnt ihr mir einen Rat geben?

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[Tamara206]

@Stefanie315 

Wie schon @Christa0  geschrieben hat. Finger davon lassen. 

Das traurige an der Sache, es fallen immer noch viele Leute darauf ein.

In Spanien gibt es ähnliche Spam/Fake Inserate. Dort werden günstige Wohnungen in Madrid/Barcelona angeboten und die Leute wohnen in Deutschland. 

[Lisa5728]

@Stefanie315 

Ich habe wirklich haargenau die gleichen Mails wie du bekommen.

Jetzt haben wir immerhin Gewissheit dass es sich hier um Betrug handelt.

Hello,

I just read your e-mail regarding my apartment located in: Adelheidstraße [...], 80798 München. It has 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1 kitchen (79 m2). The rent is 700 euro/month included additional cost (utility bills). The security deposit is 1800 euro, and you get it back when you decide to leave the apartment (you will have to give me at least 30 days notice).

A little bit about myself so we can get to know each other better.

So, I am Susanne M.. I am 51 Years old, I have 54 year old husband Felix and we work in the software industry in the quality management department of a company located Madrid, which specializes in government software.

As for me, you can rest assured that I will never ask you to leave the apartment. You will have access to a very large and well ventilated cellar, where you can store things if you need to.

I would like to know something about you, for example, your occupation, financial situation, monthly income for people who will live in the apartment, how many people will have to live at home and for how long do you plan to stay?

I hope you got a good first impression, and please if you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask.

Would love to hear back from you!

Kind regards from Spain,

Susanne M..

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[Stefanie315]

@Lisa5728 @Tamara206 @Christa0 

Ich finde das eine Frechheit und ich würde gerne etwas dagegen machen, für mehr Aufmerksamkeit sorgen, dass nicht andere darauf reinfallen.

@Lisa5728 hattest du die Wohnung auch bei immonet gefunden und dann eine Kontaktanfrage gemacht, so dass sie deine Email Adresse hatte?

Ich überlege, ob ich mich an den Kundenservice von immonet wende und sie auf den Betrug aufmerksam mache. Hast du deine immonet Anzeige zufällig abgespeichert? Meine habe ich leider nicht abgespeichert, das ärgert mich.

Ich finde wir sollten darauf aufmerksam machen, dass ein Betrüger/in unterwegs ist!

Liebe Grüße

Stefanie

[Christa0]

@Lisa5728, ich glaube die Möglichkeiten sind beschränkt, dagegen was zu unternehmen. Die Betrüger nutzen Fake Namen und löschen das jeweilige Inserat ganz schnell um es dann mit einem anderen Fake-Namen wieder zu inserieren. Da sind auch die Immo Portale machtlos. Anzeige gegen unbekannt bei der Polizei bringt auch nix, da die betreffenden Personen oft gar nicht existieren oder eine falsche Identität benutzen. Da hilf nur aufpassen und ein gesundes Misstrauen an den Tag zu legen. 

[Kraiem0]

I also was looking for an apartment and was so surprised by how cheap the rent is but then i got exactly the same email you guys posted from someone called Bernardino P[...] L[...]when i texted him regarding an apartment Ad  and he even sent me pictures of his "supposed" passport and identy card!!

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[Chris636]

All hosts beware. Yesterday had a “legitimate” booking from a family 

Then started getting random messages the  Airbnb app from strangers saying my property was listed as available long term through Gumtree and FB marketplace. Viewings had been organised over this weekend. Bizarre given guests in. So I visited property this morning to change locks to find guest had not checked in. 2 + 2 there were in on scam and had reserved property to conduct viewings to potential tenants seeking £3500 up front . On to police. But beware.

[Anna]

Thank you for the warning @Chris636 ! Have you flagged the guests to the Airbnb support? 

[Fabian710]

Hallo, 

ich habe dieselbe E-Mail bekommen. Ich habe die Anzeige in Inmowelt gefunden.

Hello,

I just read your e-mail regarding my apartment located in: [...] 22297 Hamburg. It has 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 1 kitchen (55 m2). The rent is 750 euro/month included additional cost (warm rent). The security deposit is 1800 euro, and you get it back when you decide to leave the apartment (you will have to give me at least 30 days' notice).

A little bit about myself so we can get to know each other better.

So, I am Christine M[...] I am 51 Years old, I have 54-year-old husband Robert and we work in the software industry in the quality management department of a company located Madrid, which specializes in government software. I'm renting the apartment for unlimited time. As for me, you can rest assured that I will never ask you to leave the apartment. You will have access to a very large and well-ventilated cellar, where you can store things if you need to.

I would like to know something about you, for example, your occupation, financial situation, monthly income for people who will live in the apartment, how many people will have to live at home and for how long do you plan to stay?

I hope you got a good first impression, and please if you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask.

Would love to hear back from you!

Kind regards from Spain,

Christine M[...]

Danach habe ich die E-Mail beantwortet, da ich dachte, dass es eine gute Chance gab. Ich habe dann die folgende E-Mail bekommen:

Hello Fabian,

Thank you for your reply.

The apartment is available for a long-term rental and is exactly as you can see in the pictures, so you can rent as long as you want. There will be a regular contract between us. You will have a completed residence registration form, signed by me. Registration at the address is possible.

As I said in my previous email, I live in Madrid and will have to come and show you the apartment and sign the rental agreement.

After moving to Madrid, we started renting the apartment through Airbnb.com, but it has been quite a hard time for me to come often and check everything, so I decided to rent the apartment for long terms. Airbnb provides an online platform that connects hosts who have accommodations to rent with guests seeking to rent such accommodations. I am Airbnb member since 2015 with good reviews.

Like any other transactions on Airbnb, they will handle the payment and it will be released to me only after you check in. By any chance the apartment would not suit you, you have the option to cancel the reservation and get full refund.  

After you confirm the booking and payment to Airbnb, you will receive the keys so you can inspect the apartment. I use Airbnb because they are one of the biggest rental companies around the world and I really trust them.

If everything sounds good to you, I will start the transaction with Airbnb. I will need your full name, your actual address, phone number, the date you want to move in and the maximum estimated period of your stay.

Best regards,

Christine

Ich habe dann die E-Mail in Google eingefügt und habe erfahren, dass es um Betrug geht. 😞

Vielen Dank an Alle. 

anbei ein Paar Bilder der Wohnung, die ich bekommen habe. 

 

 

  

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